


In Five Minutes or Less: Meet the Love of Your Life

by zombified419



Series: This Could Be Love [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: A lot of them - Freeform, Ahsoka Tano Ships It, Ahsoka isn’t having his shit, Ahsoka ‘Wingwoman’ Tano, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bartender Din Djarin, But he’s the best dressed in the room, Cara Dune is a good bro, Cat R2-D2 (Star Wars), Din Djarin Is A Good Father, Din is Unintentionally Smooth, First Dates, Fluff and Humor, Gay Disaster Luke Skywalker, Hondo Is Being Hondo, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mentioned Greef Karga, Mentioned Grogu | Baby Yoda, Mentioned Han Solo, Mentioned Leia Organa, Mentioned R2-D2 (Star Wars), Mutual Pining, Protective Ahsoka Tano, Rated for strong language, Shy Din Djarin, Speed Dating, Teacher Luke Skywalker, luke skywalker is a little shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:08:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29472984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zombified419/pseuds/zombified419
Summary: “Well, you can stay here and keep spitting on the bartender all night,” she says with a wink; Luke sputters again, face on fire. “Or you can go finally pick up your name tag and scorecard. They’re about to get started.”Luke rolls his eyes at her, still running hot with embarrassment. “Go save me a table.”She smiles and leaves a pile of napkins in the puddle of drink to offer him a lazy salute. “You got it, Little Skyguy.” Ahsoka smiles at the bartender, scoops up her cosmo, and heads over to the roped off side of the room.Luke sighs and shakes his head, turning back to continue to try to mop upAhsoka’smess with cocktail napkins. “I’m so sorry -”The bartender shakes his head and produces a towel from behind the bar. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve seen worse.”Luke huffs a laugh and runs a nervous hand through his hair. At least he’s memorable. “I didn’t get your name.”He tilts his head at Luke and smiles softly. “Consider it practice, then.”
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker
Series: This Could Be Love [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2164842
Comments: 86
Kudos: 510





	In Five Minutes or Less: Meet the Love of Your Life

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhhhh this was supposed to be up yesterday for Valentine’s Day! Next time I decide to do a Valentine’s Day fic, maybe I won’t decide to start it - on Valentine’s Day. 😅
> 
> HUGE shoutout to my bestest-buddy-beta EVER, numtwelve, for beta’ing and listening to me rant about how much of the last 24hrs was dedicated to this thing. You’re the best. 🖤
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!

“Why am I here?” Luke groans, fiddling with the cuff of his shirt. Ahsoka slaps his hand away.

“Because this was your idea,” she answers, straightening his collar. He rolls his eyes.

“Leia’s idea,” he corrects. Ahsoka rolls her eyes to the ceiling.

“As if it matters - you two are practically the same mind.”

Luke scoffs. “That is not true. I have never  _ once _ announced that I wanted Han to bend me -”

“Alllllright - point taken, I don’t need a reminder about that particular Thanksgiving, thanks,” Ahsoka says, pressing her hand over Luke’s mouth. He grins. Before he can lick her palm, Ahsoka pulls away and flicks his forehead. “Chill out, Little Skyguy. Whether it was your idea or your twin’s, we’re here.”

“Don’t you have something better to do tonight, Auntie?” He asks, leaning his elbow against the bar. “It’s Valentine’s Day.”

Ahsoka shrugs. “I’m always happy to meet new people.”

“But they’re looking for a date out of this, at minimum.”

“And? It’s extremely low pressure - if I don’t like anyone, I don’t have to write their name down.” Ahsoka brandishes her scorecard at Luke, fanning his face with the paper. “Five minutes per person, too, so if someone is - completely dull, then, well - they move on.”

Luke snickers and raises his fingers at the bartender, gesturing to his and Ahsoka’s drinks. The man nods - shit, he is  _ handsome _ . Luke tears his eyes away and looks back at Ahsoka. “But - okay, but - if you’re just here for, like,  _ moral support -” _

“Shhh, shhh, hush,” Ahsoka says, fanning her paper at him again. “I’m a strong, independent woman, and I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. If that means I want to be here to support my nephew meeting a nice man, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

Luke covers his mouth with his hand, laughing. “If you insist, Auntie.”

“I do; just ask your father how I get when I put my mind to something,” she teases with a wink. “Anyway, I’m going to the restroom before they line us up. Watch my drink.”

Luke nods and shifts to watch her go, her long platinum hair flicked over her shoulder as her heels clack away. He grins and rolls his eyes at her; a  _ tink _ on the wood behind him draws his attention, and he turns to see the handsome bartender setting their drinks down. Luke smiles at him.

“Thank you.”

He nods, the dim lighting in the bar catching in his thick hair, shimmering chestnut and chocolate and bronze strands. “You here for the speed dating?”

Luke sighs and turns to fully face him. “Unfortunately; my sister suggested it then abandoned me.”

The man chuckles softly, and Luke leans forward to hang onto the sound. “Good luck.”

Luke groans. “I think I’m going to need it.” He pauses, looking down at the Jack and Coke the bartender mixed for him, before continuing softly. “I don’t usually do things like this, but - anyway, I’m just glad to not be here alone.”

The bartender nods; Luke wonders what his eyes look like under his dark tinted sunglasses, what color they are. “Friend?”

“Aunt,” Luke answers. “Ahsoka is here to sit next to me and glare at anyone who looks like they may try to be too forward.”

The bartender chuckles again, louder over the low music, and Luke smiles at him. “A formidable opponent.”

“She can be terrifying,” Luke agrees, taking a sip of his drink. “When she’s not doing her day job, she’s teaching TaeKwonDo.”

He crosses his arms and rests them along the edge of the bar, leaning towards Luke. Luke tries not to get distracted by the flexing muscle of his forearms, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “Has she taught you anything?”

Luke shrugs, feigning nonchalance. “A little; it runs in the family.”

“What do you do, then?” He asks, his voice low and smooth. Luke leans closer, inexplicably drawn to the man.

“I’m an elementary school teacher,” he answers. “It’s not as exciting as throwing people around a gym, but I enjoy it.”

He hums, and Luke wraps his hand around his glass again. “What’s your favorite subject to teach?”

“Art is a lot of fun,” he says immediately, smiling softly. “But I also like history. The kids ask awesome questions.”

The man hums again, knowingly, and taps his fingers against his bicep. “Non-stop, usually.”

Luke laughs. “At that age, absolutely.”

He smiles at Luke, then, and Luke smiles back - his expression is verging on dopey and he can feel it, but he doesn’t care. Luke picks up his glass and tries to hide his growing smile. “What’s your name? I don’t see a tag.”

The man opens his mouth right as Luke begins to take a sip in time with a hand slamming down on his back - half of his glass sloshes onto the bar. He chokes, splutters, and tries to catch the worst of the drink dripping out of his mouth in his other palm. The bartender’s lips twist in a wry grin as Luke looks over to see Ahsoka beside him again, grinning broadly and eyebrows raised at him. 

“Ready to go, Luke?” She chirps, grabbing a few cocktail napkins on the edge of the bar and dabbing at Luke’s chin.

“I guess?” Luke answers, wiping off his hand and attempting to mop up the mess as best as he can with the world’s thinnest cocktail napkins. “Do I have a choice?”

“Well, you can stay here and keep spitting on the bartender all night,” she says with a wink; Luke sputters again, face on fire. “Or you can go finally pick up your name tag and scorecard. They’re about to get started.”

Luke rolls his eyes at her, still running hot with embarrassment. “Go save me a table.”

She smiles and leaves a pile of napkins in the puddle of drink to offer him a lazy salute. “You got it, Little Skyguy.” Ahsoka smiles at the bartender, scoops up her cosmo, and heads over to the roped off side of the room.

Luke sighs and shakes his head, turning back to continue to try to mop up  _ Ahsoka’s _ mess with cocktail napkins. “I’m so sorry -”

The bartender shakes his head and produces a towel from behind the bar. “Don’t worry about it.” He carefully plucks the wad of useless napkins from Luke’s fingers and tosses it into a trash bin. “I’ve seen worse.”

Luke huffs a laugh and runs a nervous hand through his hair. At least he’s memorable. “I’m sure.” He looks over the man, watching him finish cleaning up the liquor with languid swipes, and bites the inside of his cheek. “I didn’t get your name.”

He tilts his head at Luke and smiles softly. “Consider it practice, then.” He jerks his chin towards the side of the room where Ahsoka and several other people are now sitting. “You should go, they’re starting.”

Luke curses and looks over his shoulder, turning quickly back. “Keep my tab open; I’ll be back.”

The bartender offers a smile at him that quirks a dimple and Luke just -  _ stares. _ He is so  _ weak. _ “Whatever you want.”

Luke’s jaw works to speak but, like - what the fuck does he say to that? Is that - is he -

_ “Luke!” _ Luke glares back at his aunt, screaming loud enough that the conversation in the entire  _ bar _ dims, before taking what’s left of his drink with him and jogging over to the sign-in table to pick up his shit.

He sighs as he drops into the seat at the high top next to Ahsoka, narrowing his eyes at her. “What the hell.”

She blinks at him, taking a demure sip from her martini glass. “The bartender is hot.”

“I  _ know, _ and you made me spit Jack and Coke all over him,” he hisses, feeling his face flame again. “So, I repeat - what. The.  _ Hell.” _

“I didn’t realize you were talking to him when I came back,” Ahsoka says, tone apologetic. “Do you think he’s interested?”

Their row of tables are lined up against the far wall, facing the bar, and Luke flicks his eyes over. He easily finds the bartender’s back - strong, broad shoulders moving as he shakes a mixer. “Maybe? He could just be - doing his job. Aren’t bartenders supposed to make you feel comfortable so you want to stay and drink more?”

Ahsoka shrugs. “Yeah, but did he seem like that to you?”

Luke taps his chin, then shrugs, taking up his glass again. “I don’t know.” He really doesn’t, he’s a good read of character but he’s terrible at telling if someone is flirting with him. “He kept leaning closer to me over the bar.”

Ahsoka slaps his bicep with the back of her hand; his drink sloshes dangerously again, but Luke compensates and moves with the motion.  _ “Ahsoka!” _

“Sorry!” She says quickly, sounding nothing remotely  _ close _ to sorry. “You’re kidding. Why are you over here and not there?”

Luke raises both of his eyebrows at her. “Really?”

“Fine, okay, I called you over - but hey, if none of these other guys work out, you could always go talk to him again.”

Luke shrugs and finally takes a sip of his drink - something tells him he’s going to need it. “If he’s still around, sure.”

A timer buzzes, drawing Luke’s attention. Their hostess, a petite blonde woman in a fluffy red dress, stands up from the sign-in table and claps her hands together. “Happy Valentine’s Day, speed daters! Thanks for coming out, and a huge thank you to  _ Nevarro _ for hosting us tonight!” A polite round of applause echoes around their little section of the room, rising above the low rock music playing and other conversations through the bar.

Once the sound dies down, the hostess continues: “Those of you already at a table, get comfortable - that’s where you’ll stay for the next while. Those of you standing, you’ve got a random number on your scorecard, and that’s the table number where you’re gonna start. After you all sit down, I’ll start the five minute timer, and then once it’s up - so are you! We’ll take a minute between rotations so everyone has time to jot their thoughts down.” She smiles warmly at everyone, and Luke feels more than a little restless. “We’ll take a fifteen minute break halfway through, okay? Any questions?”

Luke can’t imagine there are any - this was all covered in the email - and once confirmed, she claps her hands together again. “Alright, take your positions!”

A dark haired man rests his hand on the back of the seat across from Luke, dressed in a tan bomber jacket and black shirt, and Luke offers him a weak smile - he’s so fucking overdressed for this shit. Once the timer goes off, he’s sitting down, and Luke folds his hands in his lap.

“Hi, Luke,” he says, reading the stupid sticky  _ ‘Hello, my name is’ _ tag on Luke’s waistcoat, his voice and smile pleasant. “Nice to meet you.”

Luke nods. “The same to you.” He looks at his name tag. “Cassian.”

His smile turns a little awkward. “So what do you do?”

“I’m an elementary school teacher,” Luke answers. Cassian nods.

“That’s interesting.”

“It can be - you?”

“I work in intelligence,” he offers, but leaves it at that. Luke nods and thinks of some of Leia’s colleagues.

“CIA or FBI?” He teases, and when Cassian doesn’t answer, Luke awkwardly clears his throat. He takes a long sip of his drink, hoping that break comes soon so he can get another, and tries not to start counting seconds.

The conversation with Cassian after that is stilted; Luke tries to keep the questions light, but it’s obvious he didn’t enjoy Luke’s slight teasing. When the timer goes off, Cassian offers Luke a fleeting smile and stands, and Luke lets out a sigh of relief. As he’s writing out his score for Cassian, Ahsoka nudges him under the table. “How’d it go?”

Luke gives a brief shake of his head; she winces. “Sorry, Little Skyguy.”

He shrugs and drops his pen on the table, leaning back against his seat. “Nothing to apologize for, only the first of ten.”

The timer goes off again, and an older man dressed in a burgundy sports jacket and fedora glides into the seat in front of Luke, startling him. He blinks dark eyes at Luke behind rose-tinted glasses. “Good evening, beautiful.”

Luke flushes and coughs into his hand. “Hi?”

“You look divine,” the man continues, almost purrs, offering his hand across the table to Luke. Luke hesitates for just a moment before taking it, and a kiss is swiftly pressed to the back of his hand. Uh, what the  _ fuck? _ “I am Hondo. Tell me all about yourself.”

Ahsoka’s fist slams down on the table between them, causing an abrupt end to all conversation around the entire bar. Luke uses the distraction to pull his hand from Hondo’s lax grip, tugging the napkin under his glass free and wiping the back of his hand off. She has her finger pointing right in Hondo’s face, the bracelets along her wrist clinking together. “Don’t touch my nephew, Hondo Ohnaka.”

“Ahhh, Ahsoka Tano, fancy meeting you here,” he answers, relaxing back in his chair like he owns the place. The conversation around them picks up again. “You are lovely, as always.”

“Save it,” she snaps, and Luke raises an eyebrow at her. The poor woman sitting across from his aunt looks terrified. “Get up, you don’t get to talk to him.”

Hondo waves a dismissive hand at her. “Honestly, Ahsoka, it’s like you don’t trust me -”

“I don’t,” she answers, tone dripping with poorly concealed venom. “I suggest you skip this round  _ and _ the next, before I kick your ass outta here myself.”

The woman across from Ahsoka gasps and immediately scrambles from her seat, almost knocking over Ahsoka’s cosmo in the process. Luke stills the rocking glass and Hondo holds up both of his hands placatingly.

“Now now, Ahsoka, no need to cause a scene; I mean you and your nephew no harm -”

“Do you think Anakin would agree with you?” The mention of Luke’s father causes Hondo to snap his mouth shut. After an awkward beat, he begins to chuckle and taps his fingers together. 

“Ah, now that is a name I haven’t heard in a while. How is he, and Kenobi?”

“They’re fine,” Ahsoka says smoothly. “And now you’ve met Anakin’s son.” She gestures to Luke, who tentatively waves, and all the color drains from Hondo’s face.

“I’ll - be going. Pleasure to see you, as always, Ahsoka,” Hondo says, standing abruptly. “Best of luck to you, young Skywalker.”

He pushes his chair in and steps away from the line of tables entirely, swiftly moving to the bar. Ahsoka huffs and folds her arms over her chest, glaring daggers at the back of Hondo’s head.

Luke slowly looks at her and blinks. “Do I even want to know?”

She lifts one narrow shoulder in a shrug. “Probably not. Let’s just say we’ve had trouble with Hondo’s ‘businesses’ in the past.”

Luke nods. “Understood.”

The timer buzzes, and he swiftly draws a line through Hondo’s name.

The next person doesn’t invoke any type of a response in Ahsoka, who is typing furiously on her phone with the seat across from her empty; she has bright green hair and is named Hera, and she’s level-headed and immediately says that she’s just there to make friends. Luke feels somewhat relieved - after the shitshow that was Hondo, he needs a little bit of a breather.

Hera talks animatedly about her fiancé and shows Luke pictures of them together, and it brings a smile to Luke’s face. 

“You two look happy,” he says once she’s finished. She smiles warmly at him. 

“We met at one of these,” she says, and Luke raises his eyebrows at her. “I fell right in love with him at the start; we held up the entire rotation talking.”

“Why did you come here, then?”

“I like to share our story,” she answers. “I feel like - if we can do it, anyone can. So don’t give up.”

Luke hums and smiles at her, resting his chin on his fist. “That’s sweet.”

She flushes, and he laughs.

The buzzer goes off, and Luke thinks that he would like to stay in contact with Hera, even if just to see her wedding photos.

While he’s jotting down his notes, a glass is set on the table in front of him. Luke looks up to see the handsome bartender there, smiling softly at him and resting his hands on the back of the empty seat in front of Luke. “Thought you could use a refill.”

Luke sighs and smiles back at him, squeezing his thigh under the table as a nervous distraction to stop from fiddling with the pen in his grasp. “I do, thank you.”

The bartender nods, leaning over to remove the empty glass from the table. “How is it going?”

Luke thinks of how - subpar? - everything has gone so far and shrugs. “About what I was expecting.”

“Which is?”

“Hopeless,” Luke grins, and the bartender chuckles. 

“Don’t give up yet,” he answers, his index finger tapping against the glass in his hand. “Night’s still young.”

Luke’s smile turns a little more genuine. “That it is.”

Luke watches him walk back to the bar, wondering if his messy hair is as soft as it looks, when Ahsoka clears her throat beside him. He hums at her, eyes lazily drifting from the bartender, and she wags her eyebrows at him. “Still not sure he’s interested?”

“I asked him to keep my tab open,” Luke argues. “I’m sure he’s doing the same thing for the other people.”

Ahsoka makes a show of looking around. “Oh, I must have missed seeing him dropping off other people’s refills.” She looks at her drained martini glass. “Or mine, for that matter.”

Luke laughs and rolls his eyes, nervously running a hand through his hair. “I don’t know, maybe he’s just being nice.”

“He sure is being  _ something _ .”

The timer buzzes again.

The next few people are a blur to Luke - another woman who immediately tells Luke he’s cute with his bright eyes and wide smile, but she isn’t attracted to men; they talk about movies and trade stories about their cats, instead. The man after that passes along a similar message - just there to meet a nice girl, but he’s sure Luke is a great guy - so Luke just tries to hold up a halfhearted conversation about sports with him. 

Luke has also decided that he’s long since given up on making any kind of a connection, so he starts coming up with more and more outlandish jobs when people politely ask what he does for a living.

“I’m a storm tracker, just breezing through.”

“Oh my job? I’m an engineering architect for NASA, I’m the one who programmed Curiosity to sing happy birthday.”

“I work for homeland security - do you have any idea how much of a pain it is when people cover the webcam on their laptops?”

The last one didn’t win him any favors.

Finally, the timer for the halfway break goes off, and Luke sighs. The man in front of him rolls his eyes and stands up without saying a word - he didn’t like Luke’s sense of humor anyway, so Luke marks through his name and pouts at Ahsoka. “Can I go home?”

She snorts at him and pats his cheek, sliding out from behind her high top table. “Absolutely not, you’re doing great.”

“What?” He scoffs. “Are we in the same room? I’m terrible at this.”

“Well, I meant with the bartender, obviously,” she drawls, pulling him from the table. “He’s been looking over here nonstop after he dropped off your drink.”

Luke flushes and scratches the back of his neck. “Has he really?”

_ “Yes!” _ Ahsoka hisses. “So we’re going to go get another drink and you can talk to him some more during the break.”

Luke glances at the dredges of his third drink, just chunks of melting ice left in the bottom of the glass. “Are you planning to call me an Uber, Auntie?”

“I bet the bartender can,” she winks at him. “Are you drunk?”

Luke purses his lips, thinking for a moment, then shakes his head. “Buzzed.”

“Good thing it’s not a school night,” Ahsoka teases, and Luke giggles with her.

With Ahsoka pulling Luke towards the bar after her display earlier, the other people give them a wide berth. Hondo is nowhere in sight, luckily, and Luke settles comfortably against the wood of the bar. His eyes immediately find the bartender, his shoulders pulling the dark grey dress shirt he wears tight as he’s mixing drinks, and Luke swallows. 

He abruptly turns to Ahsoka and whispers, “I look okay, right?”

She blinks at him. “Really? You’re the most stylish man here, Luke.”

Luke smooths his hands over his black shirt and waistcoat, fingers idly plucking at the silver buttons. “Yeah? No cat hair?”

Ahsoka snorts. “No, no cat hair. That’s your own fault - you really have too much pride to own an all-black wardrobe with a white cat.” She slaps his hands away from their fiddling and flares out his collar more, exposing the line of his clavicle. “You always look nice, Luke. Between the waistcoat and boots combo, you’re turning heads.”

Luke bites his bottom lip. “Thanks, Ahsoka.”

She smiles warmly. “You got it, Little Skyguy.”

Luke sees movement out of the corner of his eye and looks over to see a woman with dark hair pulled to the side, wearing a similar dress shirt as the other bartender that’s tied off at the waist over a dark green undershirt. “Hey, what can I get you?” She has a unique tattoo under her left eye, almost like a teardrop, but Luke can’t quite make out what it is in the low light. 

“Cosmo and Jack and Coke,” Ahsoka says, pointing a thumb at him. “He has a tab.”

She smirks at Ahsoka and nods, turning to pull bottles to start her martini and walking off towards the other end of the bar. Luke can’t help but feel a little disappointed the other bartender isn’t making their drinks, and Ahsoka, as if reading his mind, pats the back of his hand consolingly. “At least he’s still here, maybe you can catch him after the last half.”

Luke rolls his bottom lip between his teeth and shrugs as the other bartender sets Ahsoka’s pink drink in front of her. She nods back over towards where her partner is. “Mando’s making yours, Blondie.”

Luke doesn’t quite stop his relieved smile and nods, eyes dropping to her name badge, and wonders why her partner doesn’t wear one. “Thank you, Cara.”

“Sure thing,” she says, offering a wink, before turning to a couple who steps up beside Ahsoka. Ahsoka takes a sip of her glass and sighs deeply. 

“I needed that after seeing Hondo’s wrinkly old face.”

Luke snorts a laugh just as his -  _ his? _ \- bartender sets his refill down in front of him. He clears his throat, embarrassed by his snorting laughter and wandering mind, but Mando’s soft dimple makes an appearance. “Having a better time?”

“I am now, yes,” Luke answers, and Ahsoka slyly steps away from the bar and back toward their table. 

“This is the first one of these we’ve had here,” he says. Luke finds himself leaning across the bar again - not  _ just _ to hear his low timbre, Luke is stupidly drawn to the man. “How much longer is it?”

“We’re halfway through,” Luke answers. This close he can clearly see the shadowed scruff along the other man’s jaw, giving him a rugged look. Luke has always been on the fence about facial hair, feeling like it’s not really a  _ thing _ for him - some men wear it better than others - but Mando is making him reevaluate his stance. “Another forty minutes is my guess.”

“Any takers so far?” He quips with a charming tilt of his head, and Luke smiles shyly at him.

“Perhaps,” he answers, and Mando’s smile grows, showing a sliver of white teeth.

“Yo, Mando!” Cara calls, snapping both of their attention to her further down the bar. Luke flicks his eyes back to Mando, taking in his handsome face in profile, and swallows thickly. He’s got a strong jaw and nose, and Luke is absolutely charmed. “Guinness keg’s out, your turn to get it.”

Mando sighs and pushes back from where he had been leaning towards Luke. “Heard,” he calls back to Cara before turning towards Luke. “Time’s up. Flag me down when you need another drink.”

Luke just nods, his face heating, and watches him walk the length of the bar before he leaves through a door Luke assumes is for storage. The timer goes off behind him and he curses - time’s up, indeed. He pushes himself back from the bar, not really digging this Speed Dating shit interrupting his time with his hot new bartender friend.

Once he’s flopped in his seat, intentionally jostling Ahsoka, he looks back at the bar - and his jaw drops open. Mando is walking behind the bar again and now carrying a pony keg over his shoulder like it weighs nothing. Luke is no expert, but he’s barhopped enough in his early twenties to know that those things weigh - way too much, even the smaller ones. He can’t tear his eyes away as Mando ducks down to - presumably - set the keg on the tiled floor before hauling away the empty one the same way.

Luke’s eyes track him until someone clears their throat, and Luke snaps his eyes to the person sitting in front of him, tapping their nails on the top of the table.

“Friend of yours?” They ask, tone annoyed, and Luke winces - he missed the second timer indicating the start of the next round.

“Uh, maybe?”

Ahsoka sniggers beside him, and Luke sighs.

After  _ that _ immensely awkward five minutes, his next date ends up being a man that recognizes Luke immediately as his daughter’s teacher, and Luke wants to just walk right out and not stop until he’s eating a pint of ice cream in his shame sweats in his kitchen. Ahsoka puts a firm hand on his shoulder to stop him when he rises to do just that, not-so-subtly pointing to the bar where Mando is standing, arms crossed over his chest as he leans casually between the beer taps, watching Luke.

Luke lets Ahsoka push him back down and stays.

All in all, the last half is almost as much of a disaster as the whole Hondo thing. There’s that initial awkward start when Luke couldn’t tear his eyes from Mando’s insanely attractive keg-hauling abilities that ended up being similar to Cassian, the father of one of his students (parent-teacher night is going to be  _ weird _ next time), a woman that actually won’t stop  _ staring _ at Cassian a few tables down from Ahsoka, and - truly, Luke completely checks out of all three remaining ‘dates’. It isn’t fair of him, and he knows it, but he can’t stop tracking Mando behind the bar or smiling at him when he happens to catch his attention, and his dates pick up on it pretty quick.

“Do you want me to get you a drink?” One of them asks, a quiet man with black hair that laughed at Luke’s awful joke about his profession. He really seems like a nice guy, and Luke may have been interested in talking to him more but - Luke just shakes his head, looking over the man’s shoulder towards the bar. He can’t even remember the poor guy’s name.

“No, I’m fine,” Luke answers, his smile beginning to grow when Mando catches him watching  _ (again) _ and holds up a rocks glass as a silent question. Luke shakes his head and fights his growing smile; Mando offers a pint glass instead with that cute tilt of his head, and Luke shakes his head at that, too; when he holds up his index finger and starts for a martini glass, Luke is laughing into his hand, long having lost the fight against his grin. 

The conversation is more than a little dead after that, his date scrolling through his phone while Luke rests his chin in his palm, mentally counting seconds while his eyes are on Mando.

Eventually, the last timer goes off. Luke’s final ignored date offers a forced smile and stands quickly, and Luke can see them marking through his name but doesn’t care. He’s already up and peeling the stupid name sticker from his chest - balling it up with the scorecard he’d stopped keeping track of - and drops it in Ahsoka’s lap before he beelines to the bar. Her responding laugh and whistle carries effortlessly across the bar.

“Mando,” he says, pulling himself up onto one of the few seats along the bar. “I’m finally free.”

He’s already facing him and smiles, low light catching on his sunglasses as he stretches forward to set a glass of ice water on a coaster in front of Luke. “Is it over already?” 

“Already?” Luke laughs, heart warmed by the gesture. “That was torture.”

He hums, picking up a beer stein and polishing it. “It looked interesting.” 

The bar has slowed down as the night continued on, leaving more gaps and open seats at the bar than there were originally. Cara is tending to the few other patrons still there while the rest of the speed daters mingle behind them, so Luke doesn’t feel too bad about taking all of Mando’s attention. 

Luke shrugs. “I mean, yeah, but - I, uh, couldn’t wait for it to end.”

“Why is that?”

Luke pauses, licking his lips. “It kept pulling me away from you.”

Mando pauses in his polishing, cloth clutched tightly in his hand, and Luke catches his throat bob on a sharp swallow. “Me?”

“Yes.” Luke’s watch vibrates against his wrist, but he doesn’t look away from him. “Is your name really Mando?”

Mando slowly continues his polishing and shakes his head. “No.”

Luke threads his fingers together on the top of the bar to stop their sudden trembling. “I definitely should have led with that earlier, but - what is it?”

The man pauses, setting aside the now gleaming stein to pick up a snifter. “Din Djarin.”

“Din Djarin,” Luke repeats, testing the shape of it on his lips. He likes it. “I’m Luke Skywalker. It’s nice to meet you, Din. You’ve honestly made this whole experience better.”

Din clears his throat and ducks his head, clearly flustered, and Luke feels his smile grow. He carefully starts polishing the glass again as he continues: “Did you meet anyone tonight worth a second date?”

“Just you,” Luke breathes; Din fumbles the snifter but catches it before it falls. “Would you like to get dinner with me?”

Din snaps his face back up to Luke, his lips parted in surprise, and Luke tries not to squirm when Din doesn’t immediately answer.

“Do you mean that?” Din eventually asks. Luke is sure there’s a flush on Din’s face, even in the low light, and huffs a laugh.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

“You’re just, uh,” Din trails off, carefully setting the snifter where it goes before folding away the cloth he was using, chin tilting down again. “You’re, ah. You look  _ like that _ , and I’m -”

_ Insanely handsome, _ Luke almost finishes for him as his breath catches and his heart hammers with the knowledge that Din finds him attractive, even if he doesn’t seem to realize how handsome  _ he _ is. Luke can help with that. “I want you to go to dinner with me, Din, please.”

Din tilts his chin back up at him, shoulder rising with a deep breath. “...alright.”

Luke beams at him and hopes he doesn’t look too manic, but he doesn’t think Din minds even if he  _ did, _ if his shy answering smile is any indicator. “When does your shift end?”

“Now,” Cara interjects, dropping her hand on Din’s shoulder and slightly startling him. “Get out of here, Mando. Greef and I can close.”

“Does that mean you’re free?”

Din hesitates; Cara’s smirk widens when he nods. “I just need to make a call.”

Luke nods back and crosses his arms over the bar. “I’ll be right here.”

Once Din steps away, Luke takes a sip of his water while he checks his watch, seeing a text from Ahsoka. She closed out their tab with Cara before she left and expects an update from him in the morning, punctuated by several heart and suggestive smile emojis; Luke bites his lip to stop another stupid smile from breaking out as he messages her back.

Cara clears her throat and draws his attention. 

“You look sweet enough, Blondie,” she starts, leaning her elbows against the shelf behind the bar. Her expression is neutral but her eyes are fiercely sharp. “He’s already pretty taken with you so don’t disappoint him, or I’ll kick your ass.”

Luke blinks, a chill running down his spine. “That won’t be a problem.”

Cara quirks her eyebrows at him, her smirk back in place.

Once Din returns, black leather jacket tucked in his elbow and sunglasses still in place, Luke smiles at him and steps down from the chair. “Ready?”

Din nods and tentatively offers Luke his arm; Luke’s smile grows as he accepts, fighting the urge to lay his head on Din’s shoulder. 

They go to a hole in the wall Chinese restaurant that Din suggests after giving Luke his helmet and jacket when he guides them to his motorcycle, offering to drive them. Luke agrees and happily wears both, enjoying the spicy smell of Din that encompasses him, and wraps his arms tight around Din’s waist on the ride over. He absolutely rests the helmet between Din’s shoulder blades as they drive, and Din occasionally drops a gloved hand to Luke’s arms around his waist when they stop at lights.

Luke shares more about himself on their date than he did during the other ten he had that night, and more than he honestly expected to - he talks about his parents and his sister, about Ahsoka and his Uncle Ben, about his cat, Artoo, and how he enjoys terrorizing Leia’s twitchy dog, and shows off pictures he’s taken of his kid’s artwork during the school year. 

He also learns quite a bit about Din and is delighted - Din is new to town, is partial owner of  _ Nevarro  _ along with Cara and the man she had mentioned, Greef, and about how he recently finished the arduous but satisfying process of adopting his son, Grogu. When he shows Luke a picture of Grogu covered in pasta sauce and beaming at the camera, Luke is immediately taken with the kid. 

“How old is he?” He asks, smiling down at Din’s lock screen.

“He just turned four last month,” Din answers softly, his thumb stroking gently along the edge of the screen. Luke looks at Din smiling down at the picture of his son, and his heart swells. He’s so glad he signed up for Speed Dating, of all things, and that it was held at Din’s bar so he could meet him.

Luke tells him that after they settle the bill and are waiting by Din’s motorcycle for Luke’s Uber. Din had offered to drive him home, but Luke is honestly worried he may try to drag Din into his apartment instead of letting him go back to his own for the night and declines.

Din shifts his weight and fusses with the strap of his motorcycle helmet while they wait, chin tilted down. “I’m - glad I met you too, Luke,” he murmurs, fingers stilling. 

Luke smiles at him, his heart racing, and he honestly can’t believe his luck with how the evening turned out. “Can I have your number?”

Din gives a jerky nod, so Luke hands over his phone. Once Din is done typing and passes the phone back, Luke immediately messages him so he has his number, too. “Text me. I want to see you again, if that’s alright?”

Din nods again, the motion smoother this time, then sets his helmet on the seat of his motorcycle. He takes a deep breath and looks back at Luke. “I’d like that. It’s been - nice, talking with you.”

Luke laughs gently. “It’s been nice talking to you, too, Din.  _ You’re _ nice, and your son is adorable.”

A tentative smile plays at the corner of Din’s lips, twitching his mustache. “He is.” He shoves his hands into his jacket pockets. “Thank you for this. I’m - grateful you didn’t meet the love of your life tonight.”

Luke says - “Who says I didn’t?” - before he can really think it through, then bites the inside of his cheek with a wince.

Din doesn’t say anything, but Luke can feel his gaze still on him behind those tinted shades. A light breeze rustles the air around them, stirring Luke’s hair and tossing Din’s messy curls, but does nothing to cool the flush across Luke’s face. Din’s hands slip from his pockets. “Luke.”

“Hmm?” He hums, hoping he didn’t let his mouth ruin a good thing before it could really start.

Din steps towards him. “Can I kiss you?”

Luke sags with relief and grabs the collar of Din’s jacket to pull him closer.  _ “Please.” _

Din kisses him gently, lips slightly chapped, and Luke sighs against him. The kiss is soft and shy, searching, achingly sweet, and Luke carefully presses his fingertips to the stubble of Din’s jaw as his pulse flutters. Din’s hands settle lightly on Luke’s waist and pull him closer, thumbs looping in the cinch on the back of his waistcoat and palms spanning the small of Luke’s back. He is so  _ warm; _ a shiver runs down Luke’s spine as he leans further into Din’s arms.

Luke’s watch trills, and he  _ almost _ whines when he reluctantly pulls away from Din. Din rests his forehead against Luke’s temple, the bridge of his nose and sunglasses pressing into Luke’s cheek, as Luke flicks his wrist to check the notification. “My ride’s here.”

“Mmm,” Din rumbles, pressing a kiss to the corner of Luke’s mouth. “Are you sure I can’t take you home?”

Luke clears his throat against the flush creeping up his neck and offers a shaky grin, straightening Din’s collar from where he bunched it up. “Honestly, Din - if you did, I don’t think I’d be able to let you leave.”

Din chuckles, his breath warm against Luke’s skin. “There’s time,” he murmurs. “I don’t want to rush this.”

Luke isn’t surprised to find he feels the same way. There’s something special about Din; Luke has a good feeling about him, and he wants to savor learning who he is. “I don’t either.”

A car horn honks from behind Luke, and he rolls his eyes. “Impatient.”

Din gives him a chaste peck, his mustache tickling Luke, before he disentangles his hands from Luke and steps back. “Go, before they give up on you. Will you let me know when you get home?”

Luke sighs and nods, fingers drifting along Din’s jacket lapel as he starts walking backwards. “You do the same - good night, Din.”

Din catches his left hand before he gets too far away and squeezes warmly, finally letting Luke go to turn to grab his helmet. “Good night, Luke.”

Luke is about to climb into the backseat of his Uber when he pauses, abruptly lifting himself up with his boots on the step into the SUV so he can lean over the roof to yell back at Din. “When can I see your eyes?”

Din starts his motorcycle, the growl of the engine easily reaching Luke. “Next time!” He calls back, the visor of his helmet flipped up while he slips his shades back on through the gap, and Luke blows him a kiss before dropping into the seat.

Luke apologizes for making his more than irritated driver wait before they confirm Luke’s address and pull from the curb; Luke doesn’t mind the bad rating he’ll likely get from using the SUV as a podium and digs his phone from his pocket, smiling softly after he unlocks it to see Din’s contact information waiting there for him. 

Not exactly what he had been expecting when Leia made him sign up for Speed Dating, but definitely worth the whole ordeal. He thinks of Hera and her fiancé and their sweet story, hoping Ahsoka may have gotten her contact information, and looks forward to when he may be able share a similar story about he and Din in the future.

His phone vibrates in his hand while he’s thinking about Din’s shy smile, and he blinks down at a message from Leia.

_ Ahsoka said you left with someone - I told you so. _

Luke grins and starts typing out a reply.

**Author's Note:**

> I - went ahead and made this a series because I already know there’s gonna be more outta this little AU. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed; let me know your thoughts, and thank you for reading! 🖤


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